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I try to save as much money as I can when I buy what I need. I have a good friend who works for a major sporting retailer and gets a good discount. I try to get things thru him but we are different sizes, so he has to be careful about buying things that aren't his size. Sometimes you just have to pull the plug on an item you want and pay full retail. Camofire is a good site, as was Sierra trading post ( not as good as they use to be). If I had to put a calculator to all I have I would probably start to cry. Hunting and horses are my only vices. I don't golf, I cant imagine what that costs w/ green fees included.

I use most of the istes you guys are talking about as well. I also frequent the backpacking websites and have picked up a few light wieght items. www.backpacklight.com is a good one for used gear and they have a section for gear deals. Members post links to other websites that are running discounts.

Birtday and Christmas are all usually hunting items, or money for hunting items.

Tax return

Bonus

Buy used online

And as of the last couple years, been selling a lot of my older stuff I don't use anymore. I never really sold much of my older gear until I realized how easy it was to do a couple years ago. Online forums are great for selling your used stuff you no longer have a use for.

Another good source for cheap gear is army surplus stores. Its not the latest, greatest, lightest there is but it is durable and functional and you can get setup to go backpack hunting pretty cheap with it!

Aside of the 5th item that pretty much could have been me writing, in fact, I had to even show my wife the post Just last month, I had a let it go craigslist post and sold over $800 in older hunting stuff, it's crazy of well used hunting equipment sells for.

The only thing I would add to the list is planning hunts WAY in advance, I won't show you guys how skitz'd out I am but I have a 10 year plan for hunting trips. New Zealand was planned 18 months in advanced and right now I'm working on Alaska for 2014. I slide in smaller trips, Idaho, Wyoming, etc. in the "down" years. It is pretty amazing how fast points build up when you have 8 states or so and 3 animals per state or even more on some states. It is a very cheap way to take good quality animals and have great experiences.

Colorado Cowboy
Cowboy Action Shooter; Endowment Life Member-NRA
The Original Rocket Scientist-Retired
"My Father always considered a walk in the mountains as the equivalent of church going."
Aldous Huxley